ALASKA - Power Poles Prove Deadly for Eagles

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

[FAIR USE FOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH PURPOSE ONLY]

Subject: Power poles prove deadly for eagles in Alaska

Source: http://www.knoxnews.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=DEADRAPTORS-03-20-00&cat=AN

By SANDI GERJEVIC, Anchorage Daily News

March 20, 2000

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - In life, they must have been magnificent, these dozen bald eagles that lay stiffly on the concrete floor of a government warehouse.

The sheer size of them was startling. Their singed feathers, missing eyes and partially decomposed bodies created a sickening tableau. Frozen, wrapped in trash bags, several showed tell-tale black markings. In one case, gold talons had been blown off and lay next to a bird like grisly talismans.

The eagles were collected by Jill Birchell, a special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage. About 75 birds fill four freezers in a corner of the agency's warehouse. Birchell collects the federally protected raptors as evidence to help prosecute their killers.

Who slaughtered the birds? They were electrocuted _ zapped on power lines.

Since Birchell began keeping records in Alaska, she's discovered a horrific carnage around the state _ about 50 eagles killed in the last few months alone.

In February, an eagle was killed at the Port of Anchorage. The bird initially appeared to have been shot, but forensics later determined it was electrocuted. And recently, a special agent for Fish and Wildlife discovered a fresh eagle corpse at the base of a power pole in Eagle River. The huge, beautiful bird still clenched a nicely browned turkey wing in its talon.

The agent, Jim Fuller, surmised the eagle was the victim of a well-meaning Eagle River woman who's been feeding scraps and expired grocery meat to wild eagles for the last 11 years, attracting them to a residential area. Fuller would not release the woman's name, but he did say that after his tragic discovery, she agreed to stop the practice.

It's not illegal to feed eagles, Fuller said, but it's strongly discouraged in order to protect the birds. Last week, eagles remained perched in the bird-lover's neighborhood, awaiting a handout.

"It will take them a while to get reconditioned," Fuller said.

Birchell has worked as a wildlife law enforcement agent in Alaska since 1991. About three years ago, she began gathering information on where and how often eagles are electrocuted in the state. Agents in other communities have shipped dead eagles to her and kept statistics. In an effort to stop the slaughter, Birchell has sent letters to approximately 120 power companies in the state, putting them on notice, urging each to install equipment that would prevent electrocutions.

"The intent of it was to set sort of a friendly tone to invite them to work with us," Birchell said.

Eagles are not endangered in Alaska, but they are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Installing bird-friendly equipment is voluntary on the part of the electric companies; the government can issue fines or prosecute only after the fact.

Two years ago, in a first step toward getting tough on the issue, Birchell fined the Sand Point Electric Company $500 for killing at least a dozen bald eagles a year. The company serves about 325 customers in the fishing village of Sand Point in western Alaska.

Jack Mager, owner, paid Birchell's fine and said he spent $15,000 to $20,000 to install preventive equipment.

The eagle problem, he said, occurs mainly in January and February, when a local seafood processor uses a municipal dump to discard cod entrails. Hundreds of eagles are attracted to the area.

"We'd have, like 600 eagles out there," Mager said. "And they were all fighting to get on our power lines."

The Eagle Protection Act has been in place since 1940. While accidental electrocution of protected birds is a problem nationwide, power companies have been slow to respond with solutions, and the U.S. government has been slow to punish. The reason, Birchell said, involves time and money.

"The sort of effort that I have put into this in Alaska makes me realize just how overwhelming it is for one person," she said. "It's just about impossible."

In the past, power companies have seen that nothing happens to them if they don't take action, she said. But that may soon change.

Last August, with assistance from the Fish and Wildlife service, the U.S. Justice Department prosecuted the Moon Lake Electric Association for the deaths of at least 170 birds, mostly golden eagles, on its power lines in western Colorado and eastern Utah. It was the government's first criminal prosecution of a utility for violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. The company pleaded guilty, received a fine of $100,000 and agreed to fit its power poles with bird-friendly equipment.

While attorneys for Moon Lake argued the laws were aimed only at those who purposefully injure or kill birds, the judge in the case issued an emphatic no _ electric companies must be held accountable for eagle deaths caused by their equipment.

The Moon Lake judgment is important because it sets a precedent and shows power companies that laws protecting eagles have teeth.

"It's been a wake-up call for the industry," Birchell said. "And we, the Fish and Wildlife service, need to seize on that momentum."

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com.)

========================

-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), March 21, 2000


Moderation questions? read the FAQ